We’ve had extremely good weather now for over a week. The sun’s been shining brightly, and the temperatures have been in the high 60s, low 70s. This is rare for these parts this time of year. And it’s supposed to continue. It’s put everyone, including me, in a good mood. Our neighbor John aka Primal John was in such a good mood that when I passed his place (I was walking Raudi, Tinni, and Ryder) he said that the horses were looking good. This is a fellow who in the past has not been appreciative of his hooved neighbors.

The hunters were of course out in force this past weekend, but were not out today. I took advantage of the good weather and

The squash weighed 15 lbs, 3 oz.

got all of the ponies out on the trails, first Raudi and Tinni, then Tyra, and then Hrimmi. I think that the weather also put them in good spirits.

Yep, we are all now getting megadoses of Vitamin D.

I’ve been recovering from a cold that I caught when working at the Alaska State Fair. I think that it was brought on by too much sugar consumption. There were no healthy snacks at the Recycling Collection and Sorting area. I have had this happen in the past, and have vowed to not have this happen again. I’m now working at eating better and I am going to keep at it. This means no more late afternoon dark chocolate energy boosts. I suspect that in a few days’ time, I am going to see the effects of my decision – I’m most likely going to have more energy later in the day.

In addition to getting the horses out, I assisted Pete in working in the compost area. He got the tractor out and turned the most recent manure pile. I added soiled goat and chicken hay, and the bad hay that was left over in the shed. I also added manure that was in five gallon buckets. I estimate that I moved approximately 50 buckets. They were not as heavy as they would have been had they been rained on, but they were heavy enough. I also opened the plastic bags of birch leaves we’d been given two years ago, and made a pile next to Fish Habitat. (We call it Fish Habitat because we were told when we bought it that it should be sunk in a fish pond in NJ). And Pete put the pallets up against the compost station so that it might hold more manure. The material that he moved was hot – here’s hoping the good weather will continue so that the mound will cook.

We’re also hoping that the good weather continues because if it does, we’ll end up with ripe red tomatoes. Right now most are green – I am not optimistic about this, but Pete is. We’ve even had a second wave of strawberries, which makes up for the fact that the first wave was weak. And yes, the raspberries keep coming. Today’s photo is of Pete and his potentially prize winning squash. Yep, there is a resemblance.